According to a recent asbestos exposure lawsuit, a Louisiana couple is suing Chevron and Hess over allegations the oil companies’ negligence led to the husband’s mesothelioma diagnosis decades later.

Emile France alleges he did not learn until recently that his work on offshore oil rigs for McDermott and refineries for both Chevron and Hess could have led to the lung cancer. Another defendant is Pacific Molasses, where France says he worked as a pumper and doing other types of work. All told, the Louisiana man allegedly worked in occupations that could have led to his asbestos exposure for 14 years, from 1962 to 1976.

At McDermott, France reportedly was exposed to dust from the material while working on brakes and winches at a time when the company should have been aware that the conditions could lead to the development of mesothelioma, according to the asbestos lawsuit. France and his wife allege that Hess did not provide respiratory protection via masks and other equipment, nor did the company test for asbestos fibers at the sites where France worked. The same factual allegations are repeated for Chevron and the Pacific Molasses company, now Tate & Lyle Ingredients Americas.

France’s mesothelioma lawsuit attorney is seeking to have the statutes of limitations for negligence and strict liability tolled in his client’s case. The man was allegedly unaware that he could be affected by asbestos until he was diagnosed with lung cancer. In fact, the complaint notes that the initial diagnosis did not even include mesothelioma because both the doctors and the Frances did not know of his exposure during his time working for the companies in the 1960s and 1970s.

The asbestos exposure lawsuit is Emile France, et al. v. Chevron USA. Inc., et al., Case No. 13-cv-06474, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana.